Nonlocal Consciousness: Nonlocal Consciousness Jayne Gackenbach, Ph.D.
Grant MacEwan College Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Bridgewatch, MA, June 2006
Definition and Data: Definition and Data Traditional conceptualization of consciousness in psychology
Epiphenomena of brain matter
Metaphor of brain as TV receiver
Data sources to be discussed
Global Consciousness Project
Maharishi Effect
Global Consciousness Project http://noosphere.princeton.edu/: Global Consciousness Project http://noosphere.princeton.edu/ an international collaboration of scientists, artists, and business people
created in 1998
working in the boundary areas of physics and psychology
purpose is to gather evidence and study indications of the subtle reach of human consciousness in the physical world on a global scale.
Random Event Generators (REG or RNG or EGG’s): Random Event Generators (REG or RNG or EGG’s)
use quantum-indeterminate electronic noise
widely used in laboratory experiments
provide high-quality random sequences
a quantum level phenomenon that produces a well-behaved broad-spectrum voltage fluctuation
GCP Host Sites: GCP Host Sites
Data for a Whole Day from 48 REGs : Data for a Whole Day from 48 REGs Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Global Consciousness Project (GCP): Global Consciousness Project (GCP) The hypothesis of the GCP is that the continuous streams of data from these instruments will show anomalous deviations associated with "Global Events".
Continuous monitor look for changes and patterns correlated with engaging events
Worldwide Meditations
Natural Disasters
Terrible Accidents
Beginnings of War
Grand Celebrations
Political Excitement
Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Global Consciousness Project (GCP): Global Consciousness Project (GCP)
170+ Global Events Over 5.5 Years
Odds: Less Than 2 Parts in a Million
exclude:
electromagnetic radiation,
excessive strain on the power grid,
mobile phone use.
Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Slide9: Figure 2a. Odds against chance for both RNGs combined, for periods of high and low audience interest during the 1995 Academy Awards broadcast. Radin, Dean (1998). Moving mind, moving matter. Noetic Sciences Review, 46, 20-37. Specific Events: 1995 Academy Awards Figure 2b. Odds against chance for both RNGs combined, run as a control test after the Academy Awards broadcast.
Slide10: Specific Events:
Terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001
Categories of Events Show Substantial Differentiation : Categories of Events Show Substantial Differentiation Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Expected versus Without Warning Events : Expected versus Without Warning Events Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
No significant difference
Number of People Paying Attention Substantial Effect on the Network Confounded with Importance : Number of People Paying Attention Substantial Effect on the Network Confounded with Importance Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Positive and Negative Valence Events Have Larger Effects Than Neutral Events : Positive and Negative Valence Events Have Larger Effects Than Neutral Events Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Experimenter Effect? : Experimenter Effect? Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
No
Effect
Distance of the REG’s From the Event Make a Difference?: Distance of the REG’s From the Event Make a Difference? Nelson, R. (2004, May). Questions and explorations probing the GCP database: What matters, what doesn’t, what questions we can ask. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Las Vegas, NV.
Bottom line: modest evidence that closer EGGS
show bigger effect.
Some Hypotheses about the Physical Mechanism: Some Hypotheses about the Physical Mechanism Global Consciousness
Field Effect
Backwards Causality
Most consistent with physics and EGG data
“most of what can be said is speculative, and not immediately useful for understanding the empirical data”
EGG Anomalies, by Richard Shoup, Boundary Institute, 2001 retreived Sept. 18,2004 from http://www.boundaryinstitute.org/articles/EGG_Salad.pdf
Critique: Critique Post facto analysis as in Sept. 11 data
Carry out exploratory analysis in a more open-minded way. In the current context, seek any departures from randomness, not just a limited class of effects that are deemed likely and/or are easy to deal with.
Implement more discipline on ‘‘formal’’ predictions: to eliminate data fiddling, ensure that they are complete and specific enough to be implemented automatically, with no human intervention via selection or adjustment of parameters.
Carry out all tests in the corresponding automated way. Most convincing would be blind, parallel analysis of suites of time series: data with no signal is mixed with the data under investigation.
Statistical preferences for analysis Commentary: Was There Evidence of Global Consciousness on September 11, 2001? Jeffrey Scargle, Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
Media/Public Interest: Media/Public Interest Maharishi Effect
TM Comes to the West: “The world is as we are.”— His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi TM Comes to the West “In 1960, Maharishi predicted that one percent of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique would produce measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population.”
(http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/methodology.html)
Maharishi Effect Specifics: Maharishi Effect Specifics 1% of population 1% of population Practice Transcendental Meditation Practice TM Sidhi –
1600 in the U.S. would influence 256 million
a group of 7000 would influence 4.9 billion
Nonlocal Consciousness : Nonlocal Consciousness Orme-Johnson, D.W., Alexander, C.N., Davies, J.L., Chandler, H.M., & Larimore, W.E. (1988). International peace project in the Middle East: The effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32, 776–812. Coherence group: fluctuating in size from 60 to 240 (200 is the square root of 1% Israeli population), during August and September 1983 in Jerusalem.
Some Dependent variables: war intensity in Lebanon; war deaths in Lebanon; Israeli national stock index; auto accident rates, numbers of fires, and crime rates for both Jerusalem and Israel
Slide23: Nonlocal Consciousness Hagelin, J. S., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Rainforth, M., Cavanaugh, K., & Alexander, C. N. (1999). Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness in Washington, D.C. Social Indicators Research, 47, 153–201. controlling for temperature
not be attributed to changes in police staffing
independent of the isolated details of the models used to assess seasonal cycles and trends
continued for some time after the end of the project
Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research : Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research tendency to dismiss due to faulty research
publication in peer reviewed journals
paradigm-breaking research is always subjected to closer methodological scrutiny than standard research http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/methodology.html
Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research: Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research Controlling for Alternative Hypotheses
22 studies on the influence of the Maharishi Effect on crime have statistically controlled for the influence of all variables known to influence crime before assessing the effects
specifically controlled for population, college population, population density, geographic region, percent of persons aged 15–29, ratio of police to population, police coverage, neighborhood watch programs, median years of education, family income, per capita income, percentage unemployed, percentage of families with incomes below poverty level, percent in same residence after 5 years, and seasonal effects.
Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research: Time Series Analysis (28 studies used)
must demonstrate that improvement did not occur at the time of the experiment because of cycles, trends, or drifts.
A time series is a sequence of measurements over equal periods of time, such as days, months, or years
removes regularities influence before assessing the possible effects Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research
Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research: Causality
time series analysis allows one to directly specify temporal relationships between variables in order to test causal hypotheses
scientists, governmental officials, or the news media were informed in advance of virtually all of these social experiments. Also, the data used were from public records, with most provided by government agencies themselves (e.g., crime and auto accident statistics).
continuous replication over larger samples of a wider range of variables Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research
Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research: Methodological Review of Maharishi Effect Research Empirical Confirmation of Mechanisms
substantiated by three separate neurophysiological studies
Amherst group effect on single person in Iowa (EEG COH)
TM-Sidha effect on TM meditator (EEG COH)
increased group size of TM-Sidhi practitioners significantly correlated with increased levels of serotonin in non-meditators
Maharishi Effect Research and Random Event Generator Research: Maharishi Effect Research and Random Event Generator Research
TM Peace Meditation after 9/11: TM Peace Meditation after 9/11 All day – 1000 meditators, ns Maximum number of meditators
All day – 1800 meditators, sig 1700 meditators over 5 days during 30 minutes Yogic Flying (advanced) practice, sig http://noosphere.princeton.edu/mumpeak.html
Replication and Extension: Replication and Extension Mason et al., 2002 data collected
The Relationship Between Nonlocal Consciousness and Nightmare Reports: The Relationship Between Nonlocal Consciousness and Nightmare Reports Data sources (data provided by Jill Fisher):
National Nightmare Hotline (Monthly phone bills)
Bill # Sequence; Date; Time; AM/PM; City; State/Province; Area Code; Phone Number; Call Length
EGG data (downloaded from online)
EGG data) is in the form of z-scores and means for every 15 minute block over 24 hours for each of about 40 REG units
11,500 potential data points per day
hypothesize that nightmare reports will vary with EGG data from North America taken the day before the report of the nightmares.
time delay is because people would call a nightmare hotline the day following a nightmare
Slide33: ASD Nightmare Hotline Calls and REG Data Correlation Matrix for First 12 Days of the Hotlines Operation Same day REG data Day before REG data Nightmare data
Slide34: Personal Example
Dreams about Charles “Skip” Alexander from January through April of 2001 Copy of presentation email me at:
gackenbachj@macewan.ca